Kyle Cummings, a three-year old in Townsville, Queensland, found some eggs and hid them for safekeeping. His mother found them on Monday after they had hatched. Kyle's eggs were eastern brown snakes -- among the most venomous in the world:

The snakes, which are highly venomous, have since been released into the wild.

The reptiles were only 12-15cm long, according to Trish Prendergast of North Queensland Wildlife Care, who released the snakes.

"Their fangs are only a few millimetres long at that age, so they probably couldn't break the skin, but they're just as venomous as full-grown snakes," she told the Associated Press news agency.

All the credit must go to Mr. Bryson, who is a very cool writer and very funny... but thank you. That book made quite an impression on me. I've always wanted to go to Australia... and now I'm a little concerned about stepping off the plane.